


Distraction in Darkness

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Anxiety, Blackouts, Board Games, F/M, Monopoly (Board Game), Power Outage, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 11:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15242853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	Distraction in Darkness

“You okay?” Derek asked, eyes inquisitive as he emerged from the bathroom. There was no mirror nearby, but if you could hazard a guess you probably looked like you’d just seen a ghost. You could feel your skin getting clammy and your body begin to shake.

A power outage.

You hated the dark.

The dark was not your friend. 

Ever since you were a kid and the power went out, leaving you without your parents and at the mercy of a babysitter who couldn’t give a shit, you’d always hated the dark.

As you began walking toward Derek, your heart began to race. “I hate the dark.”

“Really?” He asked surprised. “That strikes me as weird for some reason. I’m sure the lights will go back on soon though.”

You cowered into yourself, making yourself small in the comfort of Derek’s arms. “I hope so. It would figure that the power would go out when the sun went down.” More dark. Lots of dark. Nega dark. It was too early to go to sleep, although that would’ve been your pick.

“Do you want me to distract you?” He asked, kissing the top of your forehead as he pressed the flashlight on his phone. 

The wind wailed outside, rain beating roughly against the brick building as you nodded. “Yes, please.”

“Okay,” he replied, smiling softly as he sat you down on the couch and bent over to kiss you. “You stay here and I’ll go get some things. How about we play board games by candlelight? Be really old school.”

“I’d love that.”

While Derek was rummaging around in your closet, he called out and asked why the dark got to you so much. With a blanket wrapped around you, you told him the story of the babysitter when you were about six. The power had gone out and as a child you were naturally scared of the dark. The wind had been insanely strong and something kept beating against the side of the house. You’d told your babysitter, but she’d been too interested in being on her fully-charged laptop with her friends than comforting a six year old. It turns out that the thing banging against the house was a tree branch, but that branch broke your window. Being ignored by the sitter and already afraid of the dark must’ve made for a lasting impression because ever since then you’d hated the dark.

“Your babysitter sucked,” he laughed. The low tone of his voice was comforting in the dimly lit darkness of the apartment. “I’ll be better. And if board games don’t work, I can get more creative.” His raised eyebrows and sneaky smile left little to the imagination.

Your dirty-minded knight in shining armor. An angel in devil’s clothing.

“Alright, in the board game department we have Scrabble, Monopoly and Sorry that still have all the pieces.” In the move from your place to his, many of your board games had lost pieces. These three were the only whole ones left. 

“My pick?”

“You’re going to pick Monopoly, aren’t you?” It was always a long game so Derek never picked it willingly. “Okay,” he groaned, rolling his eyes playfully as he sat across from you. “We’ll play Monopoly.”

After grabbing candles and matches, he put away his phone and began dealing out all the fake Monopoly money. It took a little while for you to tune out the sounds of the storm outside, but it happened. “I rule at Monopoly,” you laughed and flashed him a toothy grin. 

“Yet another reason I never choose to play this. How are you feeling?” When he saw you flinch, he realized he shouldn’t have asked. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, love. I’m okay. Distraction is definitely working though.” You were about to continue your thought when your stomach grumbled so loudly Derek snorted.

His shoulders shook with laughter. “Hungry?”

“Apparently.”

Without a word, Derek popped up from his place on the floor and headed into the cabinet. You couldn’t use the microwave and depending on how long this lasted the stuff in the refrigerator could go bad, so he pulled out some cheese and crackers.

“Mmm…cheddar,” you mumbled through cheesy goodness. Unfortunately, your snack was particularly crumbly so in the morning you’d undoubtedly see crumbs everywhere. But whatever. You just wanted to make it through the night without having a panic attack. 

The storm only distracted you once, but Derek quickly brought your attention back to the game. Nearly two hours later, the game was over. You beat his ass mercilessly of course. “I think I’m sleepy now.”

“Let’s go to bed then,” he said as he yawned. “And I will protect you from the storm.”

With those big strong arms, you had no doubts that he would do exactly as he said. Strong arms, stronger heart - you were safe with him. 


End file.
